As heavy rains have caused extensive damages and claimed human lives in the last two days in Himachal Pradesh, the state government is carrying out relief and rescue operations on a war footing.

A spokesperson of the state government said here on Monday that to provide relief to the people suffering from heavy downpours and landslides over the last two days, relief work and rescue operations were being carried out.

He said that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was monitoring the situation 24X7 and giving necessary directions to the concerned officials.

“Adequate men and machinery had been deployed for the same and all the district officers and officials along with public representatives and disaster management teams were engaged to mitigate the situation arising due to landslides and flash floods,” he said.

The district administration Mandi got 113 houses evacuated in the wake of flood-like situation in Beas and other tributaries today, he added.

He said that 60 houses have been evacuated in Pandoh, 10 in Ghraan, 12 in Khaliyar, Purani Mandi, 25 in Bhuli and 6 in Paddal. He said that 29 people stranded at Potato Ground have been safely evacuated by Home Guard jawans at Manali in Kullu district.

All possible efforts were being made to provide relief to the people trapped, he added.

The spokesperson said that an intensive operation has been launched to trace the eight missing local people at Lohardi in the Baijnath area of district Kangra.

He said that due to water logging in the slum area at Lalsingi in the Una district, 515 labourers have been shifted to safer places. Food and other necessary daily needs have been arranged for these migrant labourers by the District Administration, Baba Rudranand and Mahadev Trust.

“The control rooms set up by the state government at the state emergency operation centre and district level to monitor the flood situation in the state were in constant coordination with the concerned authorities and relief and rescue teams,” he said.

The state government has released helpline numbers for providing assistance to the people in case of emergency and for information coordination.

As many as 40 persons were rescued from the two districts, Mandi and Kullu districts of the state.

The NDRF and district Administration Mandi rescued six people who were stranded in a river near Nagwain Beas on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday at around 1.30 am. They were trapped on a huge rock in the middle of the Beas river that had been flooded due to heavy rains. They had been struck on the rock since Sunday afternoon.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sunder Singh Thakur and Deputy Commissioner, Mandi Arindam Chaudhary were present on the spot during the rescue operation which lasted till around 2 AM.

In another rescue operation, 29 persons were rescued by Home Guard jawans in Manali in Kullu at 8.00 am on Monday morning as they were stranded owing to flooding of the Beas River.

In a third rescue operation in Kullu district NDRF, Home Jawans and Kullu police rescued 5 migrant labourers from Chardu Kullu district.

Meanwhile, Kullu Police has issued an advisory not to venture out of the houses as heavy rains in the last 48 hours have triggered landslides in the district.

Those whose houses are close to the river banks have been advised to shift to safer locations on higher reaches.

Three persons of a family living in a kucha house in village Pallavi tehsil Theog of Shimla district were killed when their house got buried in a landslide.